William Fullington
Rectal Function Assessment in Spinal Cord Injury Rats

Research

Rectal Function Assessment in Spinal Cord Injury Rats

Hypothesis

A complete Thoracic 8 spinal cord transection can lead to changes in rectal pressures of adult rats.

Methodology

Ten adult rats were used − six normal rats and four with spinal cord injury. The changes in rectal pressure, before and after a spinal cord injury, were recorded for each rat. The rats were evaluated from one hour to four months after the surgery. The original data were analyzed by seven parameters in the pressure changes − number of peaks, contraction duration, contraction increase, interval duration, highest peak, peak increase and peak time.

Outcomes

The number of peaks, highest peak and peak increase parameters all have statistically significant changes in both the acute and chronic stages. The contraction duration and interval duration parameters have significant changes in the chronic stages. The peak time is significantly less than normal from the sub-acute to the chronic stages. The neural control of the rectal function needs further investigation to determine why the pressure experiences significant changes at the beginning, and then it gradually returns to a more normal pressure in the chronic stages. The mechanisms of the rectal changes in the acute stages after a spinal cord injury also need further investigation.